~ rescuing my ancestors from obscurity

Alexander Robb and the Paterson/Cruickshank family

In the last post I wrote about Alexander Robb, the retired farmer from Logie Newton who died in Aberdeen in 1865. I’ve now seen a copy of his will, which lists his executors as John Paterson, a boot and shoemaker in West North Street, Aberdeen, and George Paterson, boot and shoemaker in Newseat, Culsalmond. Also mentioned are John Paterson’s wife, Catherine Cruickshank, and his daughter Elizabeth, as well as George Paterson’s daughter, Ann. Special mention is made in the will of Jean Paterson, Alexander’s long-serving housekeeper, but her connection with John and George is unclear.

John Paterson of 190 West North Street is named on the death certificate as the informant of Alexander’s death, and is said to be his second cousin.

On 28th December 1842, in the parish of Forgue, John Paterson, shoemaker in Little Forgue, married Catherine Cruickshank of Kirk of Forgue. On 24th January 1844, in Aberdeen, John Paterson, shoemaker, and his wife Catherine Cruickshank had a daughter baptised named Elizabeth Stewart, in the presence of George Ironside, manager, and Mrs Ironside.

At the time of the 1841 census we find 29 year old John Paterson, a shoemaker, living alone in Little Forgue. It may be of interest that his neighbours included the Faskin family: note that in the same year an Isabell Faskin was working as a family servant for Alexander Robb in Aberdeen.

I’ve yet to find any trace of John Paterson or his family in the 1851, 1861 or 1871 census. It would seem that Catherine had died and John remarried by 1881, when we find him, now aged 69, living at W North Street with his wife Ann 63.

On a rootschat forum, I found details of George Paterson in the 1861 census. It mentions George Paterson, 68, shoemaker farmer, born in Insch. Also Ann Forbes Paterson, 37, his daughter, born in Culsamond, and William Paterson, 43, his son, also a shoemaker. Their address is given as Burnside of Newseat, Culsalmond.

I’m still not sure of how the Patersons were connected to Alexander Robb. The most likely link is via Catherine Cruickshank (since Alexander’s mother, Amelia, was also a Cruickshank), but I haven’t been able to find any record of her birth yet.

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2 thoughts on “Alexander Robb and the Paterson/Cruickshank family”

There is a George Paterson ( Commander of the Irrawaddy Flotilla) buried in Nice. Born 7 May 1842 in Aberdeen and married Mary Mathilda Hill. He must have made a lot of money in Burma (the Flotilla was of commercial vessels) because when he died at Nice in 1914 he died at the most expensive Hotel (Regina). Any idea if he could have a connection to your Patersons ?

Thank you for your comment – and how nice to receive a message from Nice! It’s a long time since I wrote about the Patersons, and they are only distantly connected with my Aberdeenshire Robb ancestors, so I’m not sure how helpful I can be. The Patersons that I wrote about in this post were ordinary labourers and shoemakers, so I think it’s unlikely they were related to Commander George Paterson, despite the Aberdeen connection. But I could be wrong….sorry not to be more helpful.